WNYC Radio Announces Completion of Capital Campaign

Press contact: Jennifer Houlihan / WNYC Director, Publicity (646) 829-4497 / jhoulihan@wnyc.org

(February 12, New York, NY) - Laura Walker, CEO and President of WNYC Radio, announced today that WNYC has completed its Capital Campaign, raising $62.9 million and exceeding the goal of $57.5 million by 9 percent. The Campaign for New York Public Radio was launched by the WNYC Board of Trustees four years ago, and was achieved through a broad mix of Board, government, foundation, major donor, and listener support.

Approximately $45 million of the Campaign has been dedicated to WNYC?s move last June to its new facility in Hudson Square and the build out of its state-of-the-art, fully digital studios, as well as the construction of The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, WNYC?s street-level broadcast and performance studio. The Greene Space is scheduled to open on Tuesday, April 28 with a 10-day festival (program details to be announced shortly). The remaining funds are dedicated to developing new programming initiatives.

The Campaign included two record-setting gifts of $6 million each - the largest ever to a public radio station - from The Jerome L. Greene Foundation and from The Kaplen Foundation. In addition, the Campaign received gifts from 100 percent of the WNYC Board of Trustees, with strong support from WNYC listeners, more than 8,000 of whom contributed through a dedicated Campaign pledge drive. The City of New York is providing $10.8 million and New York State is providing an additional $4 million. The Ford Foundation committed $4 million and the Kresge Foundation offered a $2.5 million Challenge Grant that was instrumental in encouraging the support needed to complete the Campaign.

"We are thrilled to have exceeded our goals for this Campaign, especially during these economic times, and are grateful for the generosity of such a broad range of donors," said Laura Walker, President and CEO of WNYC. "The Campaign benefited immeasurably from the leadership of our Campaign Chair and WNYC Trustee, Alexander Kaplen, whose creativity and tenacity were instrumental in completing the campaign. Our new home in Lower Manhattan equips us, in a rapidly evolving environment, to produce in-depth content on a local and national level, using state-of-the-art, fully digital studios and a wide variety of formats. Through the Greene Space, our new street-level broadcast and performance studio, WNYC will literally open its doors to the public, becoming a physical as well as a radio and on-line destination."

The Greene Space will be unique in the New York City landscape. Conceived as a laboratory for new and innovative audio, visual and performance programming, the Greene Space will present broadcasts, performances and conversations about life, arts, culture and politics. Seating 120 people, the space will evoke the intimacy of radio broadcasting, but also have the capacity to reach WNYC?s radio and web listeners through multi-media platforms including webcasts, live audio and video streams, and live satellite feeds. www.wnyc.org/thegreenespace

Nicki Tanner, Chair of the WNYC Board of Trustees, said, "It is no surprise that the Board participated as it did; each member, after all, believes passionately in WNYC as a unique and indispensable media center. This Campaign brought the station to its first new home in 84 years, a wondrous space that is generating new energy, new ideas and initiatives. Listeners are already hearing a deepening of WNYC news and cultural programming and greater coverage of New York City and its diverse communities."

"The challenge of this Campaign was to make sure our donors understood why WNYC wasn't just another radio station but an influential cultural organization with the potential to take its place among a handful of important institutions in New York City," added Alexander Kaplen. "Now completed, the Campaign is doing what it promised: bringing that potential to life. Technical innovation is multiplying the ways we discover information and the ways we deliver it, the places our audiences find us and the places we find them. Together with our expanded coverage, this new technology is transforming WNYC from a valuable source of news and culture about New York into something indispensable for listeners around the country. Meanwhile, the Greene Space will provide the physical presence a city expects of its cultural centers ? a place where New Yorkers can gather in person and see what it is we do."

The Campaign for New York Public Radio's programming fund is allowing WNYC to make significant enhancements in its news and cultural programming. In April 2008, the station launched The Takeaway with John Hockenberry and Adaora Udoji,a national morning drive news program that is a co-production with Public Radio International, in editorial collaboration with the BBC World Service, The New York Times, and WGBH Radio Boston. WNYC has also significantly expanded its local and national newsgathering resources, resulting in projects such as the current investigation with ProPublica "ShovelWatch," which engages citizens across the country to track the federal stimulus spending at the community level. The station is also continuing to grow its interactive and video programming, with increased cultural coverage and live music programming.

WNYC Radio is New York's premier public radio station, comprising WNYC 93.9 FM and WNYC AM 820. As America's most listened-to public radio stations, reaching over one million listeners each week, WNYC FM and AM extend New York City's cultural riches to the whole country and air the best national offerings from affiliate networks National Public Radio, Public Radio International and American Public Media. WNYC 93.9 FM broadcasts a broad range of daily news, talk, cultural and classical music programming, while WNYC AM 820 maintains a stronger focus on breaking news and international news reporting. For more information, visit www.wnyc.org.

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